In 2008, PPP got 13% of the registered vote, as per the Election Commission statistics which can be checked from their website. This means, a whopping 87% either voted against them or didn’t vote, sick and tired of a terribly corrupt mafia that has ruled this country. I’ll come to military rulers in a short while.
In 2013 election the PML-N got 17% of the registered vote. Again Election commission statistics. And even if one were to accept these highly contentious numbers, still a similar and overwhelming 83% either voted against them or did not vote.
The people of Pakistan, especially the people of Punjab, who constitute 64% of our population and thereby decide who comes into power have very little in the way of a historical spine to stand up to invaders, usurpers, and bandits. Our entire history is replete with an “Ulta Phir” command, offering no resistance, not standing up for our rights, accepting the fiat of external invaders. And worse, the whip of a one eyed illiterate bandit called Ranjit Singh, who lorded over an empire stretching from Peshawar to Kashmir to Ludhiana.
Might is right
Here’s a very brief historical gallop from 710 to 1857 and 2017.Invaders with puny forces came and took over. The Arabs, under Mohammed Bin Qasim invaded in 710. But there had been several Arab expeditions that had invaded earlier and had footholds in Baluchistan and Sind.
The Ghaznavid ruler Subuktagin, from Afghanistan, founder of the Ghaznavi dynasty invaded India in 997 and captured territory up to River Indus of modern day Pakistan.His son, the famous, Mahmood of Ghazni, pillaged and plundered this land 17 times. 17 years in a row and this land had nothing to offer but their servitude.
All seasoned warriors of Mongol descent against a 100,000 force of the last Lodhi King, Ibrahim Lodh. His army predominantly manned by, yes you guessed, our valiant martial race from the land of the 5 Rivers.
They were followed by The Ghoris of Ghor, Afghans from Afghanistan. Still, this great land of the Punjab and others offered an “ulta phir”. Even slaves of the Ghoris, called the “Slave Dynasty” founded by Qutub Din Aibak, were Turkic people from Central Asia. These were followed by the Khiljis and Tughlaks from Persia and then the Lodhis, Ghilzai Pathans from Central Afghanistan and finally the Mughals and Babar.
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Babar, founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, was a Muslim Turco-Mongol, of Chagatai origin from Central Asia, invaded India with 12,000 troops. All seasoned warriors of Mongol descent against a 100,000 force of the last Lodhi King, Ibrahim Lodh. His army predominantly manned by, yes you guessed, our valiant martial race from the land of the 5 Rivers.
But our two biggest tragedies were yet to unfold. Ranjit Singh ruled over an area stretching from Peshawar to Kashmir to Lahore and Multan, bordering Ludhiana in the east, then under British control.The religious demography of this Sikh Empire was Muslim (70%), Sikh (17%), Hindu (13%). The entire Sikh population at that time is estimated to be not more than 1 million who ruled over nearly 6 million people, predominantly Muslims of the land of the five rivers. These Punjabi Muslims comprised the vast majority of Ranjit Singh’s army’s rank and file and gladly and honourably manned the Royal Stables of Ranjit Singh, now housed in the converted Badshahi Mosque.
But it was during the War of Independence of 1857, between the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and the British East India Company that the “honourable” role of our martial races came to the fore.
Every single Indian unit, Muslim and Hindu revolted against their British officers. Hindu and Muslim Units from Bengal to Orissa to Bihar all the way to the South, revolted en masse and made their way to the Capital, Delhi to fight against the British, under the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.
BUT NOT A SINGLE PUNJABI MUSSULMAN or PATHAN UNIT REVOLTED, against their British officers. NOT ONE!
In fact, the British had to hurriedly recruit more Punjabis and Pathans into conscription to fight the Independence seekers.THE SIKHS DIDN’T REVOLT EITHER. But their reason was that of their enmity with the Mughals with whom they had been battling and warring since 1707 following the death of the last of Great Mughal Aurangzeb Alamgir. They were at constant war with subsequent Mughal rulers and their Khalsa Army defeated by them after Ranjit Singh.
But back to 1857. The troops who had revolted against their British officers marched to Delhi and joined forces with the Emperor’s Army under General Bakth Khan. Together they evicted the British from Delhi in May 1857, only to be slaughtered in September 1857 when the British Army of Conquest took back Delhi, in September 1857.
This British officered Army predominantly comprised Punjabi Mussulmanns, Punjabi Sikhs and Pathans, the latter mostly irregulars. What followed is called the “Rape of Delhi” when tens of thousands of Muslim and Hindu women were raped by the marauding Punjabi Muslim and Sikh soldiers and Pathans. Fires in Delhi burned for weeks. Loot and plunder ensued, encouraged by the British officers and troops who also joined in the loot and plunder and rape.Delhi was the modern version of an Aleppo or a Mosul
So this, my dear Pakistanis is our legacy and our history. At least of the vast majority that makes up today’s Pakistan. There is so much more. But my heart bleeds when I recall how we have been slaves for centuries and how we are still slaves today!
The British rewarded these traitors and killers and murderers with Jagirs, lands, awards, wealth. And our modern great feudal families of Punjab can trace their immense wealth to the largesse they got from the British for the despicable acts of their forefathers.And today, Nawaz Sharif, is the most visible manifestation of that terrible spineless legacy of evil and servitude.
And just to remind us again about what I wrote earlier. PPP’s 13% registered votes in 2008 and Nawaz’s 17% in 2013.The rape continues under the garb of democracy. And also under the pseudo versions of Ayub Khan, Zia or Musharraf’s military rules.
These same Feudals, who had and have still hijacked our electoral processes, now also joined by their fellow robber barons from Sind and Baluchistan, have been a part of every single Military Government and continued to loot and plunder.
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- Bhutto with Ayub.
- Nawaz Sharif with Zia.
- The entire PMLN and PPP of yester years and today with Musharraf.
- Now all trying to move to the PTI!
And all this time, from 1951 till today, there has been absolutely zero accountability and even the semblance of a democratic order which means adherence to parliamentary checks and balances.
The events
An Indian Spy, Hussain Haqqani, out to destroy Pakistan, who didn’t even believe in Pakistan and questions Quaid’s motives, gets refuge in the President House, under the garb of being a democratic defender. Is allowed out and continues to spew venom against Pakistan. The same man who offered his “unconditional services” to Gen. Musharraf when the General took over in October, 1999.
And now we have PM’S daughter with full access to state secrets and highly sensitive documents and acts as a Crown princess and no one has the guts to stop her or haul her or her father. This PM, consorts and sleeps with our biggest enemy, India, and no questions are asked. Mixes his personal business with official duties and conspires to get a convicted Indian terrorist go free
This same PM, his daughter and his brother and senior leaders of their political party the PMLN, target their own Army, calling it rogue in an official meeting, making the news public and no questions. An Army that has valiantly fought for 13 years so we can sleep in peace.
This same PM’S younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minster of our largest province, Punjab, orders the slaughter of 14 innocent women and men, through his badmash Rana Sanaullah, and no questions asked. And both, instead of being tried for murder, gallivanting across the country.
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This same PM, his Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, his sons, Hassan and Hussain and daughter Maryam Safdar, all party to one of the biggest corruption and money laundering scams in Pakistan, are finally caught with their pants and shalwars down. And the shameless, living up to their legacy, defend them, shamelessly.
This same PM and his senior ministers and senior Party leaders, use language in public more appropriate in a brothel or a fish market, to attack the Joint Investigation Team, investigating their loot and plunder under Panamagate. Attack the Pakistan Army and the Supreme Court, and no one can take them to task.
Will we continue to have them in positions of power, influence and authority so they can destroy the only two institutions standing between them and absolute power? The Supreme Court and the Pakistan Army.
In another country, millions would have been out on the streets demanding this PM’s resignation.This my friends is our version of democracy and this our spine. This is not democracy. This is the rule of Fascists, Bandits, Highwaymen, Warlords, Feudals, Drug barons who use the two classic methods to stay in power. Money and Force.
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Is this what we have to suffer? Is this our fate? Will we allow them to get away because others before them got away? Will we continue to have them in positions of power, influence and authority so they can destroy the only two institutions standing between them and absolute power? The Supreme Court and the Pakistan Army.
Never. Never. Never.
If they don’t leave under due process of law. Then it’s time to storm the Bastille of Raiwind. Tomorrow is 14th July, 228 years to the date when the rich were dragged out from their palaces and guillotined. Let these vermin be dragged from their beds and gold plated sofa sets and be given the summary judgement, they deserve, if they do not bow to the rule of law.
Cleanse the ugly legacy of centuries of subservience! Insha Allah they will not and should not be allowed to get away by hiding behind snowflake like conspiracy theories.
If they stay, somehow through their Machiavellian tactics, I guarantee anarchy and civil war. For Allah’s sake, People of Pakistan, whether you voted for them or against them, do not let this opportunity pass. They must be dethroned. That’s the only word for them. Dethroned.For they act like monarchs with no one to question their behavior, their actions and their unbridled and savage loot and plunder.
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To the people of Punjab and to all Pakistanis. For once, atone for the sins of your forefathers. Cleanse the ugly legacy of centuries of subservience! Insha Allah they will not and should not be allowed to get away by hiding behind snowflake like conspiracy theories.
“Storm the Bastille” or forever live in slavery!
People of Pakistan! It’s time for some Spine!
Haider Mehdi is the current Convenor of The Strategy Study Group, founded by the late Col. S. G. Mehdi M. C, former Group Commander of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG). Haider is a former Pakistan Army officer, corporate leader, management consultant, business trainer, and serial entrepreneur.